Rabid fox attacks woman

Published: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 12:30 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 12:30 p.m.

A pretty afternoon outside in the garden Monday turned into a nightmare for a Hendersonville woman attacked by a rabid fox.

Dee Ballenger was preparing her vegetable garden to plant this year's crops at about 3:45 p.m. outside of her otherwise peaceful home at 1 Penny Drive when she saw the fox.

“I saw something running up to me and I thought it was a cat,” she said. “I realized it was a fox and I knew I was in for it.”

The red-headed, gray fox — a wild animal that tends to shy away from people — made a beeline straight for Ballenger.

“I knew it was rabid the way it charged me,” she said. “It wasn't wobbling; it was just very fast... It came at me fast and determined.”

The fox bit her left hand, but she shook it off with the gardening glove she was wearing. Then the fox came at her again.

“It bit me about three times in my right leg,” she said. “There wasn't much I could do. I had nothing to defend myself with.”

Ballenger suspects the fox came to her yard from neighboring Bowman Road, where it had terrorized a lady and her daughter minutes earlier.

Animal Enforcement Sgt. Mike Marsteller of the Henderson County Sheriff's Office said they received a call Monday afternoon from a woman who was trapped in a car along with her daughter. A fox was circling their vehicle.

When officers arrived, the fox had moved on to its next target... Ballenger.

“It just attacked me,” Ballenger said. “I knew I had to get help.”

She ran back into the house, grabbed her purse and rushed to nearby Park Ridge Health. Ballenger received six injections during her two-and-a-half-hour stay at the hospital. She has three more shots to go.

“The worst ones were the ones they gave me yesterday,” she said Wednesday. “It really did not hurt... I had a good nurse.”

Gone are the days of painful rounds of stomach injections; shots are now given right in the wound. Injections post-exposure can cost thousands of dollars, and Ballenger said she is glad to have health insurance.

“They wouldn't let me leave the hospital without (the shots),” she said. “If I didn't get them, they said I'd probably die.”

Marsteller said the fox bit another man off of Sweetwater Hills Drive later that night. The man knocked the fox in the head with a flashlight, killing it. The fox was sent to the North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health for testing.

It tested positive for rabies.

Marsteller and about nine other officers were busy this week canvassing the area around Bowman Road and Penny Drive, off of North Rugby Road, to warn residents about the threat of rabies.

“The biggest job today is spreading the word and getting the message out,” Marsteller said Wednesday.

Law enforcement officers were looking for stray animals and checking with residents to make sure pets are vaccinated. The affected area is spread over a radius of one square mile from Bowman Road.

A fox nuisance is typically a call for wildlife officers, Marsteller said, but this one turned into a threat to public health.

Health officials and animal enforcement officers are urging residents to ensure their pets' rabies vaccinations are current and to contact a veterinarian immediately if a pet seems injured from an unknown cause, displays unusual behaviors, or appears sick — even if the animal has a current rabies vaccination.

“Deductive reasoning says if it's attacking people, then it's logical to believe that it would have encountered animals while it was sick – domestic and wild,” Marsteller said.

Residents who think their pet was exposed can call 828-697-4912.

Do not approach, handle or touch any stray animals, Marsteller warned.

“We cannot overemphasize the importance for people in this area and all across the county to have their animals vaccinated,” said Health Director Tom Bridges. “Rabies is in our county, and vaccination is the law. It's there to protect not only our health, but pets as well.”

The last confirmed case of rabies in Henderson County was found in a raccoon in Fletcher on Dec. 23, 2009, according to Henderson County's Animal Services online.

Rabies is a deadly viral disease affecting the central nervous system. Rabies can be prevented but not cured. A healthy animal or human can get rabies when bitten, licked or scratched by a sick animal.

For updates, call the Public Health Hotline at 828-694-4040 or visit www.hendersoncountync.org/health.

<p>A pretty afternoon outside in the garden Monday turned into a nightmare for a Hendersonville woman attacked by a rabid fox. </p><p>Dee Ballenger was preparing her vegetable garden to plant this year's crops at about 3:45 p.m. outside of her otherwise peaceful home at 1 Penny Drive when she saw the fox. </p><p>“I saw something running up to me and I thought it was a cat,” she said. “I realized it was a fox and I knew I was in for it.”</p><p>The red-headed, gray fox — a wild animal that tends to shy away from people — made a beeline straight for Ballenger.</p><p>“I knew it was rabid the way it charged me,” she said. “It wasn't wobbling; it was just very fast... It came at me fast and determined.”</p><p>The fox bit her left hand, but she shook it off with the gardening glove she was wearing. Then the fox came at her again.</p><p>“It bit me about three times in my right leg,” she said. “There wasn't much I could do. I had nothing to defend myself with.”</p><p>Ballenger suspects the fox came to her yard from neighboring Bowman Road, where it had terrorized a lady and her daughter minutes earlier.</p><p>Animal Enforcement Sgt. Mike Marsteller of the Henderson County Sheriff's Office said they received a call Monday afternoon from a woman who was trapped in a car along with her daughter. A fox was circling their vehicle. </p><p>When officers arrived, the fox had moved on to its next target... Ballenger. </p><p>“It just attacked me,” Ballenger said. “I knew I had to get help.”</p><p>She ran back into the house, grabbed her purse and rushed to nearby Park Ridge Health. Ballenger received six injections during her two-and-a-half-hour stay at the hospital. She has three more shots to go.</p><p>“The worst ones were the ones they gave me yesterday,” she said Wednesday. “It really did not hurt... I had a good nurse.”</p><p>Gone are the days of painful rounds of stomach injections; shots are now given right in the wound. Injections post-exposure can cost thousands of dollars, and Ballenger said she is glad to have health insurance.</p><p>“They wouldn't let me leave the hospital without (the shots),” she said. “If I didn't get them, they said I'd probably die.”</p><p>Marsteller said the fox bit another man off of Sweetwater Hills Drive later that night. The man knocked the fox in the head with a flashlight, killing it. The fox was sent to the North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health for testing.</p><p>It tested positive for rabies.</p><p>Marsteller and about nine other officers were busy this week canvassing the area around Bowman Road and Penny Drive, off of North Rugby Road, to warn residents about the threat of rabies. </p><p>“The biggest job today is spreading the word and getting the message out,” Marsteller said Wednesday.</p><p>Law enforcement officers were looking for stray animals and checking with residents to make sure pets are vaccinated. The affected area is spread over a radius of one square mile from Bowman Road.</p><p>A fox nuisance is typically a call for wildlife officers, Marsteller said, but this one turned into a threat to public health.</p><p>Health officials and animal enforcement officers are urging residents to ensure their pets' rabies vaccinations are current and to contact a veterinarian immediately if a pet seems injured from an unknown cause, displays unusual behaviors, or appears sick — even if the animal has a current rabies vaccination.</p><p>“Deductive reasoning says if it's attacking people, then it's logical to believe that it would have encountered animals while it was sick – domestic and wild,” Marsteller said.</p><p>Residents who think their pet was exposed can call 828-697-4912. </p><p>Do not approach, handle or touch any stray animals, Marsteller warned. </p><p>“We cannot overemphasize the importance for people in this area and all across the county to have their animals vaccinated,” said Health Director Tom Bridges. “Rabies is in our county, and vaccination is the law. It's there to protect not only our health, but pets as well.”</p><p>The last confirmed case of rabies in Henderson County was found in a raccoon in Fletcher on Dec. 23, 2009, according to Henderson County's Animal Services online. </p><p>Rabies is a deadly viral disease affecting the central nervous system. Rabies can be prevented but not cured. A healthy animal or human can get rabies when bitten, licked or scratched by a sick animal.</p><p>For updates, call the Public Health Hotline at 828-694-4040 or visit www.hendersoncountync.org/health.</p><p>Reach Weaver at emily.weaver@blueridgenow.com or 828-694-7867.</p>